SPRING CHURCH — Apollo-Ridge school board appointed a retired state police trooper to a vacant board seat during a special meeting Monday.

Paul King, 46, of Kiskiminetas Township, will succeed Director Lance Foster, who stepped down last month due to work-related time constraints. Foster had served more than 10 years on the board. King’s appointment will last until December.

King, lifelong district resident and an Apollo-Ridge graduate, worked as a state police trooper in Westmoreland, Fayette and Indiana counties for 20 years before retiring. He is now a self-employed private investigator.

He said that with his firm finally off the ground, and with a daughter in school, now seemed like a good time to serve.

King was one of two people who had applied for the seat. The other was 25-year-old North Apollo resident Aaron Broman.

Broman is an operations manager for the district’s bus company, Student Transportation of America.

The board interviewed each man for about a half-hour Monday, asking, among other things, what skills and experiences they would bring to the board and what they thought the role of the board is.

Directors scored each on their answers and added up the points to determine who would win the appointment.

The board awarded King 297.5 points and gave Broman 239 points.

Prior to the announcing results, board President Greg Primm said each would have served the district well. He also encouraged each to run for office.

Broman, a Republican, said he is circulating petitions to have his name placed on the primary ballot. King, meanwhile, told the board he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll seek a full four-year term.

“I’m really looking to get my feet wet and see what this is like,” he said.

King also said he believes the district is pushing itself to become better than what it is and hopes to see it continue in that direction.